Boxed in
by Sapphire1112
Summary: A different take on 'Awakening'. I do not own the characters.


**Jack**

" _Nikki, give him the shot._ "

" _Why?_ "

I don't know why. The cartel are hiding Luisa, Ernesto – and _God knows_ how many others. And _this man_ has killed people – we _know_ he's killed people. So why _would_ we help him? Why _would_ we give him the medicine that will keep him alive? Nikki's a doctor – and _a bloody good one_. Helping people is what she does. But that's not why she's doing _this_.

She agreed to give the prisoner the medication he needs because it was the _only_ way to stop them from releasing this dangerous man, - which would allow him to kill _more_ people. He's also her _only_ link to Luisa.

But she's angry – _more_ angry than I've _ever_ seen her. _And there's a sharp needle in her hand._ It's never going to be a _good_ combination. I can't blame her though because I want to do exactly the same. So I _don't_ stop her and she loses her temper when he won't tell her anything.

 _And I lose my temper because he's upset her._

" _I was doing what you should be doing – getting him to talk._ "

 _We_ were. But she won't ever tell them that _I_ lost my temper too.

"He _knows_ where they are. They're alive and _you're_ not even looking for them" She continues to scream at the head of the police. "What about Ernesto Vasquez? He was taken _less_ than 24 hours ago. Ernesto Vasquez – you know who he is. His Mother-"

"We warned Dr Vasquez that she and her family were at risk."

Nikki scoffs – much like I do. _"You warned her?_ You're as bad as _them_! You're protecting _them_!"

 _This is an eye-opener to be sure_. I've never seen Nikki react like _this_ to anything. I've never heard her shout _as much_ – or as _loudly_. But she has every right to be angry, so she can shout as much as she wants.

 _She can scream and yell. I'm not going to stop her._

" _You_ stand there in that _uniform_...What does that badge say? Justice? _What bloody justice?_ "

Like I said, Nikki would _never_ tell him that I lost my temper too. But El Buitre _does_ – and the other inmates. All I did was shout, but we are both deemed too _emotional_ and banned from seeing the prisoner.

After Nikki's stormed out – and with _a lot_ of persuasion, I manage to convince the head of the police to _let_ _me_ give the prisoner his insulin – as long as I'm heavily guarded while I do it. He claims not to have enough men to keep _that_ up though, so I have to send for Thomas. _15 hours -_ and that's just the flight. I can do it until then under police guard, but the chief of police is _adamant_ that Nikki goes _nowhere_ near the building. Apparently, she's _more_ of a 'loose canon' than I am. _Well, that's something I never thoug_ _h_ _t I'd hear._

"This is _not_ you're job, Nikki." I tell her quietly, once she's calmed down and we're back at the compound. "This is not _your_ job – and it's _not_ our fight. _Please_ just come home with me."

She doesn't answer – and looks away from me.

" _Maybe_...we're making this _worse_." I continue gently. I'm _desperate_ for her to listen to me. "Did you ever consider _that_?" Again she doesn't answer. She would never _deliberately_ make things worse – I know that. Nikki was _born_ to help people, but at times she has trouble seeing the _bigger_ picture.

 _She can't always see the wood for the trees._

I keep trying"We _might_ be making it worse. Our _being here_ is just another provocation. Another _reason_ for them to kill."

She _is_ listening to me. "You think it's _hopeless_." She almost whispers.

I sigh. "I don't know if it's _possible_ to win this thing." I admit sadly, I just want to get her home – away from all this. I'm afraid of her getting hurt.

"They're going to let him go – aren't they." She mutters.

" _No_." I answer. " _Thomas_ is on the way – and I'm allowed to give the prisoner his insulin under heavy police guard _until_ he gets here."

" _Thomas_?" She answers, sounding shocked.

"I know, Nikki – believe me, _I know_. I don't want him in this either – but it was the _only_ way I could stop them from releasing El Buitre immediately - and I didn't know what _else_ to do. I'm sorry."

"Thomas... _agreed_?" She seems _more_ shocked about that than anything else, if I'm honest.

"You didn't think he _would_?"

"I...I _don't know_ what I thought." She mumbles.

This is a _dangerous_ place – and the last thing I want to do is to bring Thomas into such a _volatile_ situation – but it's the only way. _I'm sorry, Thomas._ _And I'm sorry for Rosie._

 _If anything happens to Thomas, I'll never forgive myself_.

 **Nikki**

"We're not _helping_ them, are we?" I mumble, sitting down next to Jack. "Maybe you're right. I mean - _I lost my temper._.."

"We _both_ lost our tempers." He corrects me.

"Right." I agree. "And now, _Thomas_ is involved because _we're_ not allowed near the prisoner. _If_ _Thomas_ _gets hurt..._ If _you_ get hurt..."

"Shh-shh." He whispers soothingly. "Gustavo was right – it's all upside down. _The sun's coming up."_

"It does that." I almost growl. " _Every_ _day_."

I'm _so_ tired. Tired of this country and the of the danger it _boasts_. Tired of having to look over my shoulder all the time. Tired of _unfamiliar_ things. I'm just _really_ tired. I _want to go home._ I _really_ want to go home, but I _can't_ because Luisa's still missing and I _promised_ her father I'd find her – even if it's just her body. Then Ernesto went missing – and I promised _Eva_ too.

"Come on." Jack whispers softly. "You need _sleep_ , hmm?"

And he's right – I really do. We sit and watch what _should_ be a sunset.

 **Jack**

" _Jack?_ " A familiar voice stirs me – and a light hand shakes my shoulder.

" _Huh_?" A open my eyes to see Thomas's concerned face looking down at me from a _peculiar_ angle.

" _I'm_ _here_." He tells me helpfully.

"Yes." I agree, trying to sit up - and suddenly becoming aware of a heavy object lying on my chest. "I can see that."

It turns out that Nikki and I fell asleep out on the step last night – as the stiffness in my neck explains. The heavy object, is of course, is Nikki's head, and she remains oblivious until I gently wake her up. I _try_ to wake her gently, but she's very un-nerved to find that's she's been fast asleep in such an odd place – _and_ to find Thomas and Eva watching her when she opens her eyes.

She _totally_ freaks out and scrambles to her feet in a panic. "Wha-Wh-What's happened? Thomas, Wha-? Jack, wha-?"

I grab her hand, scrambling to my feet as well. _"Easy, easy!_ It's _ok_. We're at the compound, remember. Thomas has come over on the plane."

She calms down a bit. "Oh. Sorry – um..." She glances at me quizzically. "I was asleep _outside_...?"

"Yes – we _both_ were." I answer – and look to Eva for further explanation.

"Gustavo said you were both tired and we had to leave you alone." She mutters. She clearly didn't _agree_ with 'leaving us alone', but then her son is missing and while we've been asleep, we haven't been helping look for him. We've been asleep for hours and hours – probably partly jet-lag, but things have been pretty full-on since we arrived in Mexico.

Nikki later goes for a shower, but then comes running back with Eva afterwards. Eva says she's had a tip-off about Ernesto.

"Let's go then." I say.

" _No_." Thomas answers firmly. "I'll go with Gustavo. _You_ need to stay with Nikki and Eva."

So, Thomas goes off to the safe house with Gustavo and his men. They're away hours. The safe house is _miles_ away, and even if Ernesto's not there, there are many places around the safe house where he could could be a while before they all come back. I hope Thomas stays safe.

The days are confused here and darkness creeps in.

"What if it _is_ him? What if they bring him home?" Eva murmurs. From the way she says it, she's obviously expecting a dead body – or nothing.

"Eva, you can't..." Nikki starts gently.

" _How_ can't I? _Don't you understand?_ " Eva answers urgently. She hold a photo of Ernesto and puts it over her heart.. "I'd give my _life_ for him. I'd give _all_ our lives for him." She shakes her head. "I'm sorry. I _can't_ wait here. I _have_ to go to him." She gets up and grabs her coat.

" _Wait._ " Nikki exclaims.

Shit, she's going to offer to go as well. _Of course she is_.

"I'll come with you." She tells Eva – just as I expected.

I reached for her arm as she grabs her coat. "Nikki-"

" _I'm not asking you to come with us_!" She snaps.

But Thomas told me to stay with her and I'm not letting her go off on her own in this place.

No way.


End file.
